The use of silicones in shampoos is well known in the art. Publications include U.S. Pat. No. 2,826,551, Geen, issued Mar. 11, 1958; U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,500, Drakoff, issued June 22, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,837, Pader, issued Dec. 21, 1982; British Pat. No. 849,433, Woolston, issued Sept. 28, 1960; U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,799, Good, issued July 27, 1982; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,619, Boskamp, issued Aug. 14, 1984.
While these patents disclose silicone-containing compositions, they do not provide answers to all of the problems associated with making a satisfactory product. One persistent problem has been that of developing effective processing steps for a product containing a dispersed, insoluble, nonvolatile silicone material.
The conventional means for making such silicone-containing shampoos has been to heat a mix of ingredients and stir them together. The silicone was either simply mixed in or, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,500, Drakoff, issued June 22, 1976, the silicone was added subsequent to the other ingredients. This method of processing is energy intensive and may result in some undesirable breakdown of the product ingredients.
It has been surprisingly found that by using an improved process not only is energy saved but a more stable homogeneous product can be formed.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved process for making silicone-containing shampoos.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a cold process for making silicone-containing shampoos wherein only a portion of the ingredients are heated.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a process which uses two or more heated premixes injected sequentially into a main mix at ambient temperature.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a process for producing a stable, homogeneous pearlescent silicone-containing shampoo.
It is a further object of the invention to provide stable homogeneous silicone-containing shampoos produced by a cold process.
These and other objects of the invention will become clear from the description of the invention herein.
Where "ambient" or "ambient temperature" is used herein, a range of from about 60.degree. F. to about 100.degree. F. is indicated.
All percentages and ratios herein are by weight on a total composition basis unless otherwise noted.